Samsung Has Two New Smart Watches Launching In April — Here's Everything They Can Do

Samsung announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona today
two new models of its Gear smart watch, the Gear 2 and Gear 2
Neo.

Both watches are essentially the same device, but the Neo doesn't
have a built-in camera for snapping photos from your wrist. They
are each successors to the original Galaxy Gear, which launched
just a few months ago to overwhelmingly
negative reviews.

Samsung hasn't formally
announced how many Galaxy Gears it sold, but the fact that it's
updating the product six months after the original is a sign that
it wasn't a hit with consumers.

Both watches will go on sale in April, but Samsung hasn't
announced a specific launch date. Samsung also didn't say how
much the new Gears will cost, but the current model costs
$300. If we had to guess,
the Gear 2 will still cost about $300, while the Gear 2 Neo will
cost a bit less.

Here's a quick breakdown of the new features in the Gear 2/Gear 2
Neo:

The new Gears will include a
universal remote control app and built-in infrared sensor that
will let you control your TV from the watch.

There's a music player app
that lets you listen to your songs, even if the device isn't
paired to a smartphone.

The watches double as fitness
trackers, and can monitor your heart rate, sleeping habits, and
steps taken. The data syncs with Samsung's S Health app, which
comes preinstalled in Samsung phones like the Galaxy S4 and
Galaxy Note 3.

Both models are slightly
thinner and lighter than the original Galaxy Gear, but the Gear
2 is a bit heftier than the Gear 2 neo.

Both models
have a 1.63-inch color touchscreen and the wristbands and watch
faces come in a variety of color options.

Samsung

Other than that, the new Gears
will mimic the functions of last year's model. The Gear pairs
with your Samsung Galaxy phone via Bluetooth using a special
Galaxy Gear app. After the pairing, you can use Gear to check
incoming texts, calls, emails, tweets, etc. without having to
pull out your phone. You can also make calls from the watch using
a built-in speaker and microphone.

The Gear also has an app store,
which includes some big-name apps like Evernote and the mobile
social network Path. However, other big names like Facebook and
Twitter are still missing.

Finally, Samsung decided to
switch up the operating system on the Gear 2. Instead of running
on Google's Android, the Gear 2 is powered by Tizen, another open
source mobile operating system that Samsung is heavily involved
in developing. Some see this as a move by Samsung to distance
itself from its reliance on Google for its mobile products for
stuff like tablets, smartphones, and smart watches.

In the short term though, don't
expect much to change. Tizen may make sense for a companion
product like the Gear 2, but most of Samsung's other mobile
devices still run Google's Android, which gives you access to
excellent Google services like Google Maps, the virtual assistant
Google Now, and the Google Play Store, which has more than 1
million apps. Tizen can't offer that kind of rich
ecosystem.

This isn't the last big
announcement from Samsung this month. On February 24, the company
is expected to formally unveil its next flagship phone, the
Galaxy S5, at a press event in Barcelona.

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